Armor & Mobility

May/ June 2017

Military magazines in the United States and Canada, covering Armor and Mobility, focuses on tactical vehicles, C4ISR, Special Operations Forces, latest soldier equipment, shelters, and key DoD programs

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United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) J4 (Director of Logistics) Headquarters,
USSOCOM, MacDill AFB, Tampa, FL, handles major USSOCOM-led or -assisted logistics initiatives
in support of global SOF operations.
The J4 balances service-like responsibilities of Special Operations
Forces (SOF)-peculiar issues with the operational emphasis of support
to SOF operations. USSOCOM SOF Acquisition, Technology & Logistics
(AT&L) J4 is organized into five divisions, to align with the USSOCOM
commander's priorities. J41 works supply chain management and
inventory matters. They work closely with Special Operations Support
Forward Activity in Lexington, KY, to ensure global SOF are getting what
they need when they need it.
The Acquisition Logistics divisions, J42, matrixes logisticians into
each SOF AT&L Program Executive Office to ensure sustainment issues
are addressed throughout the life-cycle of an item. These two divisions
operate more on the service-like side of the SOCOM headquarters, and
the remaining three are more in line with a more traditional combatant
command. "J43 is our operational division, with theater logistics
operations officers that are assigned a region and are proactively
engaged in solving logistics challenges with our sub-unified commands,"
Allen indicated.
J4 also synchronizes core logistics issues, such as property book
and munitions, with Service Components and TSOCs. J45
is the Strategic Logistics division that bridges the gap
between the Joint Staff, Services and SOCOM headquarters,
influencing doctrine and policy.
OP TEMPO SUSTAINMENT
USSOCOM SOF AT&L J4 has recently facilitated multiple
significant logistics initiatives through the associated
Theater Special Operations Command (TSOC) J4s assisting
them with access to functional command support.
"We worked closely with AFRICOM, Special Operations
Command-Africa (SOCAF), and TRANSCOM to leverage their unique
knowledge and contracting capability to establish an Indefinite-delivery/
indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract for transportation serving forces
deployed to Africa," said COL Steven L. Allen, J4. "This is an area of the
world where highways are few and far between and the commercial
transportation available is unreliable or flies direct to Europe to make
a connection back to the country of interest." The contract includes
regularly scheduled flights between key locations but also allows for
the scheduling of flights for specific missions. "Additionally, we have
coordinated throughout multiple geographic areas of responsibility to
forward-stage SOF equipment so our forces are able to quickly react to
emerging situations."
Together with the Joint Staff (JS) J4, USSOCOM SOF AT&L J4 initiated
and led the Trans-Regional Synchronization Forum-Logistics (TRSF-L) to
assess logistics capability across theaters as coordinating authority. As
the 2015 Joint Concept for Logistics states, "The challenge for future
joint logistics is to adequately support globally integrated operations."
To do this, the JS J4 is emphasizing Globally Integrated Logistics,
which allocates and adjudicates logistics support on a global scale to
maximize effectiveness and responsiveness. "The TRSF-L assessments
provide the JS J4 a product to assess global logistics support," remarked
Allen. "The assessments feed into USSOCOM's TRSF and provide the
JS J4 a logistics assessment for the Joint Logistics Estimate and the
Chairman's Risk Assessment. The TRSF-L assessments also provide
an avenue for input to the Chairman's readiness evaluations," he added.
TARGETED SERVICE SUPPORT
Another area of focus for the USSOCOM SOF AT&L J4
is Service support to SOF. Most special operations require
non-SOF support, so SOF is able to sustain operations
for 15 days before it is necessary for service logistics to
provide common user logistics and base operating support.
"We have been working hard to educate new and
up and coming logistics leadership on this concept,"
emphasized Allen. "In conjunction with the Center for
Strategic Logistics, the Joint Logistics Course at Army
Logistics University, we added in a block of instruction on
SOF logistics."
Additionally, J4 has worked closely with USSOCOM J7
to integrate SOF logistics into Geographic Combatant Command (GCC)
ellipse exercises. "Engagements with service and GCC leadership have
also been key components to ensuring the joint logistics enterprise
works together for support to SOF operations, which ultimately enhance
each GCC's mission set," noted Allen. "We meet monthly with the TSOCs
and SOF Service components to solve global logistics challenges. In
J4, we have to understand the tactical situation to influence at the
operational and strategic levels, aggregating information on global
SOF sustainment nodes and ensuring we are prepared to synchronize
support to SOF as expeditiously as possible."
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FACILITATING SEAMLESS OPERATIONS
CLB-26 enhances logistic capabilities
A MV-22B Osprey hovers over a landing zone while a helicopter support team attaches a load to the helicopter during an external lift exercise at Camp Lejeune, N.C. External lifts provide
a fast, effective way to move cargo and other heavy equipment, increasing the logistic capabilities of ground elements. The helicopter support team Marines are with Combat Logistics
Battalion 26. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Damarko Bones)
SOF LOGISTICS STREAMLINING JOINT PARTNERING
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